Garage door opening and closing apparatus



y 17, 1932- A. STROCHALEN GARAGE noon OPENING AND CLOSING APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. mam/ma imam/41m ATTORNEY May 1932. A. STROCHALEN 1,858,942

GARAGE DOOR OPENING AND CLOS ING APPARATUS Filed June 19. 1929 2 Sheets-Sh et 2 g. y a 6 2 0 5 /j6 lll 2.2 INVENTOR.

F16: 8 flzfm/wpie 579067/445)! BY @MW ATTORNEY Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES ALEXANDER STBOCHALEN, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA GARAGE DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING APPARATUS Application filed/June 19, 1929. Serial No. 372,115.

My invention relates to apparatus for automatically opening and closing garage doors, and the objects of my invention are: first, to provide a device whereby the doors of a garage are caused to be opened and closed by driving the car onto part of said device; second, to provide a device of this class which can be so positioned that the garage doors are enabled to swing outwardly to their open position without striking the car; third, to provide a device of this class which automatically closes and locks the doors in their closed position when the car is housed wlthin the garage and when oi the premises; fourth, to provide a device of this class which can be operated only by causing it to be actuated on by the weight exerted by a wheel of the car; fifth, to provide means for varying the weight required to operate the device; sixth, to provide a device of this class which is adapted to be built into the runway leading up to the garage doors, and into the fioor of the garage; seventh, to provide a device of this class which protrudes but slightly above the normal level of the garage floor and the runway, and eighth, to provide a device of this class which is simple relative to its functions, of rugged construction, efficient in its operation, durable, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts v and portions as will be hereinafter described fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of parts of the door actuating mechanism positioned within the inner end of the garage: Fig. at is a fragmentary elevational view of the garage doors seen from the inside of the garage, showing partly in section and partly in elevation the door actuating mechanism; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 41; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the door-actuating gear train; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the weight adjusting means, and Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 88 in Fig. 2', showing the actuating mechanism positioned in front of the garage.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the several views of the drawings.

I Garage doors 1 and 2, hinges 3, bushings 4, locking bolts 5, cable 6, arm 7 handle 8, shafts 9, bevel gears 10 and 11, shafts 12, gear cases 13 and 14, bevel gears 15, 16, 17 and 18, shafts 19 and 20, gear cases 21 and 22, pinions 23 and 2 1, racks 25 and 26, platforms 27 28, 32 and 33, and base members 29 and levers 30, brakeband34, constitute the principal parts and portions of my novel door-operating mechanism.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the garage doors are provided with upper and lower hinge members 3, which are suitably secured to the doors by means of screws 3a, and are formed at their outer end with loop portions 3?) adapted to receive the end portions of the door shaft 9. Said loop portions 36 are adapted to rest on the bushings 4 which are rigidly secured to the shaft 9. The lower end of the shafts 9 are journalled in thrust bearings 13a and 14a in the gear casings 13 and 14: respectively. Guide bearings 9a are provided at the upper end of the shafts 9 which form the vertical axes around which the doors 1 and 2 are adapted to turn. Door 1 is provided on its inner upper and lower margins with conventional bolts 5 which are normally held in their extended position by means of springs, not shown. The upper and lower mounted bolts are connected by means of a cable 6 which passes over a pair of spaced apart revolubly mounted pulleys 6a, carried by a suitable bracket 66 secured to the door adjacent its outer edge.

An arm 7 is secured to the central portion of the shaft 9 and extends laterally across the door 1 with its .outer end in engagement iii) with the cable 6, intermediate the pulleys 6a. The handle 8 straddles the outer end of arm 7 limiting the free movement of the arm 7 to a position in line with the cable 6 when drawn over the pulleys 6a, as more clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

Embedded in the concrete fioor below the hinged corners of the doors 1 and 2, are a pair of gear boxes 13 and 14, which support the thrust bearings 13a and 14a, into which the extreme lower ends of the shafts 9 extend. Each of the shafts 9 carries adjacent its lower end positioned within the gear casing, a bevel gear 10. The bevel gears 10 are arranged in mesh with a second pair of bevel gears 11 and 15 which are positioned at opposite ends of a transverse shaft 12, journalled at its outer ends in suitable bearings 13b and 14:5 in the gear cases 13 and 14. The shaft 12 extends through a tube 12a of somewhat larger internal diameter than the shaft 12, said tube being embedded in the concrete floor of the garage. A second bevel gear 16 is positioned on the shaft 12 within the gear case 14: and is arranged in mesh with a pair of bevel gears 17 and 18, mounted at the ends of shafts 19 and 20, which extend. through opposite sides of the gear case- 14; at right angles with the shaft 12, as best shown in the fragmentary plan view in Fig. 6. Shaft 19 extends outwardly from the garage door through a suitable tube 19a preferably embedded in the concrete runway leading up to the garage door. The shaft 20 extends in the opposite direction within the garage through a suitable tube embedded in the floor of the garage, as shown best in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

At the outer end of the shaft 19 is provided a pinion 23 which is adapted to engage a pair of racks 25, positioned within a suitable casing 21 embedded below the surface of the runway. Positioned over the casing 21 and pivotally connected with the outer end of the rack 25 are provided pairs of substantially triangular shaped platform members 27 and 28. These platform members are made preferably of relatively heavy sheet metal. They are hinged along their longer sides to similar triangular plates 29, these plates being suitably anchored to the runways, and substantially flush with the surface thereof. The platform members 27 are arranged on the one side of the median line of the runway, in

slightly overlapping relation, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. lVhile the other pair 28 are arranged on the opposite sides of the said median line in substantially abutting relation with said first pair. The upper ends of the racks 25 are pivotally connected to a pair of levers 30, which extend substantially transversely from the median line of the runway in opposite directions across it. The inside ends of said levers are preferably provided with downwardly extending lugs 30a over which the bifurcated upper end portion 25a of the racks 25 extend, and to which they are connected by means of pins 306. The outer ends of the levers 30 are preferably provided with rollers 31, said levers being bifurcated at their outer end portions 800 for receiving said rollers, as clearly shown in Fig. 8.

The levers 30 are positioned under the overlapping portion of the corresponding platforms 27 and 28, said platforms thereby being raised and lowered following the movement of the rack members 25. The opposite portions of the platforms 27 and 28 are preferably bent downwardly forming flange portions 27a and 28a, which serve to stiffen the platforms and prevent their bending due to the weight of the car resting thereon. In order to prevent lateral movement of the rack members 25, suitable guideways are formed in the gear case 21, as indicated by the marginal line 21a. As clearly shown in Fig. 8, opposite platforms 27 and 28 are adapted to occupy extreme positions by suitably arranging the meshing of the pinion 23 with the teeth of the racks 25.

The rollers 31 are adapted to roll on shields 21?), forming side extensions of the gear case 21, for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of holes or crushing of the outer edge of the concrete runway at the point where the rollers 31 bear upon them. It will be noted in Figs. 2 and 8, that depressions are provided in the runway at the point where the platforms are mounted in order that the outer surfaces of the platforms are flush with the upper surface of the runway when in the horizontal or lower position. v

The platforms 27 and 28 positioned outside the garage doors are a suitable distance there from so that when the wheels of the car rest on the platform 27 the doors can swing open without striking any part of the car, and similarly when resting on platform 28 the doors will close without the car offering any obstruction. On the inside of the garage are also placed pairs of platforms 32 and 33. Platform 32 is in all respects similar to platforms 27 and 28, and is positioned substantially in alinement with platform 28 just inside the doors. It is provided with a rack and pinion, not shown, said pinion being mounted upon shaft 20 intermediate the ends thereof. At the inner end of the garage is positioned a further pair of platform members 33. The structure of these platforms is substantially identical with that described in connection with platforms 27 and 28 and is shown clearly in Fig. 8, but the pinion 24 which actuates the rack 26, connected with the lever 30, upon which the platform 33 rests, is positioned on the inner side of the rack, that is. between the pivotal point thereof and the fulcrum point of the lever.

The pinion 24: is mounted at the extreme end of the shaft 20, and owing to the opposite relationship of pinions 24: and racks 26, as compared with the pinions and racks operating the platform member 32, given rotation of shaft 20 will cause opposite movement of the platforms 32 and 33. For this reason, platform 33 is ofiset inwardly with respect to the extension of the median line of the runway on which platforms 27 and 28 are mounted.

As it is desired that the movement of the platform be affected only by the weight exerted by the wheel of a car, I provide suitable friction means, as shown in Fig. 7, for increasing or adjusting the amount of weight necessary for operating the platform. To this end, I provide around the hub of bevel gears 11 and 15, brakeband members 34 which consist preferably of substantially resilient metal straps. The brakeband members 34: are substantially U-shaped in form and extend around the hub portions 11a and 16a. of

the bevel gears 11 and 15. One end of the band member is secured to a suitable lug 140 extending from the wall of the gear case, while the other end of the band member is provided with an internally threaded travel member 34a through which a screw 35 passes. The lower end of the screw 35 is rotatably mounted in the lug member 140, while the upper end thereof extends through the gear case and is accessible from the outer side thereof for the purpose of adjusting the tension of the band 34: on the hub members. It will be noted that said screw is only accessible from the inside of the garage so that it cannot be tampered with by any unauthorized person on the outside thereof.

The operation of my device is as follows: Assuming that the garage doors are closed and a car positioned on the outside thereof, the front wheels are allowed to pass over the normally raised platform members 27. In doing so, the Weight of the carcauses the lever 30 to move to a horizontal position, thereby forcing the rack 25 to the lower position and rotating the pinion 23. In doing so, shaft 19 is rotated and motion is transmitted through gears 17 and 16, to shaft 12, which thus transmits the motion through gears 11 and 10 to the door shaft 9. The movement of shaft 9 is such as to cause the arm 7 to be forced against the cable 6 inwardly against the door 1, as shown best in Fig. 5, in dotted lines. This action causes the cable 6 to withdraw the bolts 5, from the keepers in the door frame and in the floor under the door. Further movement of the arm forces the door outwardly and into the open position. It will be noticed that door 2 is rigidly secured to its shaft 9 by the hinges 2a which are riveted to the shaft 9 as shown in the right hand lower corner in Fig. 4. This door is therefore also opened in consequence of the rotation of shaft 12 and the engagement of bevel gears 15 with bevel gear 10 on shaft 9. Simultaneously with the lowering of platforms 27, platforms 28 are raised to the oblique position previously occupied by platforms 27. At the same time platform 33 within the garage is raised while platform 32 is lowered in consequence of the simultaneous operation of shafts 19 and 20.

With the garage doors wide open, the vehicle is driven into the garage, the front wheels being so manipulated as to come to rest on platform 33 at the inner end of the garage. This occurs only when the car is wholly within the garage and as aconsequence platform 33 is forced to the lower position and causes shaft 20 to rotate in such a manner as to cause the doors to be closed, the operation being simply the reverse of that previously described. The closing movement of door 2 is caused by the direct action of bevel gear 15 on level gear 10, while that of door 1 is caused by the arm 7 engaging the handle 8. This movement, of course, releases the bolts 5; however, these bolts are beveled on their inner sides, as indicated in Fig. 5, so that they are forced inwardly upon engagement with the floor of the garage and. the header ofthe door frame in which the keepers are positioned. Upon reaching the keepers, the bolts automatically move to their extended positions. 1

It should be here noted, that the connection between the gears 10 and 15 of the door 2 has greater play than the connection between the gears 10 and 11 of the door 1. This excess play of the gears for the door 2 is approximately enough to compensate for the movement of the rod 7. In other words, the play between the door 1 and its shaft 9 is approximately the same as the excess play between the gears 10 and 15. Further, after all play in the driving means for both doors has been taken up, door 2 moves slightly behind door 1 during the opening operation, and slightly ahead of door 1 during the closing operation. Thus, preceding the opening of the doors, the rod 7 moves so as to release the bolts 5 while the slack in the gears driving door 2 is being taken up; and preceding the closing movement of the doors, the rod 7 moves to engage the handle or stop 8 while gears driving the door 2 are again coming into action. The occupant of the car can leave the garage by way of the side door indicated in Fig. 1.

IVhen it is intended to remove the car from the garage, the car is so manipulated that Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction. combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a complementary pair of garage doors, a pair of vertically journalled shafts adjacent the normally hinged edges of said doors, hinges for said doors, one of said doors having hinges secured to the therewith adjacent shaft, said second door having hinges journalled on said second shaft, and movable relative thereto, bolt means on said second door for locking said doors in closed position, means on said second shaft for engaging said second door and initially withdrawing said bolts, and means for causing the simultaneous rotation of said shafts and swinging of said doors.

2. In a device of the class described, a complementary pair of garage doors, a pair of vertically journalled shafts adjacent the normally hinged edges of said doors, hinges for said doors, one of said doors having hinges secured to the therewith adjacent shaft, said second door having hinges journalled on said second shaft and movable relative thereto, bolt means on said second door for locking said doors in closed position, an arm secured to said second shaft and extending across the inner side of said second door, a U-shaped handle secured to said door near the outer end of and straddling said arm for allowing limited initial movement of said arm relative to said door, means engageable by said arm for withdrawing said bolts during said initial movement, and means for causing the rotation of said shafts and swinging of said doors.

3. In a device of the class described, a garage door frame, a garage door, a vertically journalled shaft adjacent the normally hinged edge of said door, hinge members including leaf portions secured to said door, and loop portions positioned around said shaft, an arm rigidly secured to an intermediate portion of said shaft and extending laterally of said door, spring retained bolts secured to said door adjacent the upper and lower margins thereof and adapted to engage keepers in the threshold and lintel of said frame, a cable extending under the outer end portion of said arm, and secured at each end to one of said bolts, a pair of spaced apart pulleys supporting said cable against the inner side of said arm, means for limiting the movement of said arm relative to said door, and means for rotating said shaft, whereby said arm initially engages said cable for withdrawing said bolts, then engages said door for causing it to swing open with subsequent rotation of said shaft.

4. In a device of the class described, a garage door, door operating means for swinging said doors to open and closed positions, said means including a plurality of platforms, some positioned within the garage and others in one of the runways in front of the door, said platforms formed in two substantially triangular portions, positioned with their one shorter sides in mutual alinement and substantially in the median line of one of the runways, and their other shorter sides in slight mutual overlapping relation, anchoring means placed flush with said runway, means for hinging said platform portions along their longer sides to said anchoring means, and means engageable by the overlapping portion of said platforms for actuating said door opening means on pivotal movement of one or both of said platform portions around said hinged sides.

5. In a device of the class described, a garage door, door operating means for swinging said doors to open and closed positions, said means including a plurality of platforms, some positioned within the garage and others in one of the runways in front of the door, said platforms formed in two, substantially triangular portions, positioned with their one shorter sides in mutual alinement and substantially in the median line of one of the runways, and their other shorter sides in slight mutual overlapping relation, anchoring means placed flush with said runway, means for hinging said platform portions along their longer sides to said anchoring means, and a lever fulcrumed at its one end substantially under the apex of the platform and extending transversely therefrom under said overlapping portions, and means connecting its free end to said door operating means for actuating said door on pivotal movement of said platform.

6. In a platform of the class described, a pair of platform elements positioned in substantial alinement in a runway and pivotally mounted in the plane thereof and along lines at acute angles to the median line thereof, said elements mutually overlapping at their adjacent portions substantially at right angles to said runway and common means actuated by the pivotal movement of either or both of said platforms for utilizing said movement.

7. In a garage door actuating mechanism, a door, a connecting means operatively associated with said door and an actuating mechanism for said door positioned in a runway leading to said door, including a tiltable arm arranged transversely to said runway, and operatively joined to said connecting means, said arm normally sloping upwardly from a margin towards the median line of said runway, said arm being movable from a position above the plane of said runway to a lower position in consequence of the full movement of said door, and a platform means positioned over said arm, said platform means forming an arched surface having a ridge line following the slope of said arms and its apex at the movable, extended end of said arm and collapsible on downward movement thereof to a substantially flat surface.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Diego, California, this 8th day of June, 1929.

ALEXANDER STROCHALEN. 

